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Bucs hire Greg Schiano as coach

Updated: January 27, 2012, 2:56 AM ET

By Adam Schefter | ESPN

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have finalized a five-year deal to hire Rutgers coach Greg Schiano as their new head coach.

The 45-year-old former Scarlet Knights coach was hired Thursday, more than three weeks after the Bucs fired Raheem Morris following a 4-12 record.

"We are thrilled to introduce Coach Schiano as the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," new Bucs owner Kirk Plum said in a statement. "During our thorough search, we met with numerous impressive candidates, but Coach Schiano surely distinguished himself. From his leadership skills to his impressive track record, he is, simply put, the right man for the job."

The Buccaneers said Schiano would be formally introduced at a news conference Friday.

"Coach Schiano is a bright, meticulous teacher who knows how to get the most out of his players," said Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik said in the statement. "He built and ran a pro-style program at Rutgers, and he's a defensive-minded coach whose teams have always been characterized by toughness and a physical style of play."

Schiano was intrigued by the challenge of coaching in the NFL and also was concerned about the perceived uncertainty of the future direction of the Big East Conference, a source told ESPN's Joe Schad.

The two sides met Wednesday for the second time and then spent some of the night into Thursday morning working out the contract.

Schiano has previous NFL experience as an assistant coach with Chicago from 1996 to '98. He played linebacker at Bucknell but never in the NFL. His first big break in coaching came at Penn State, where Joe Paterno hired him to coach defensive backs in 1991. He was at Penn State through 1995, before being hired by the Bears.

Because of his success at Rutgers, there had often been speculation for years about Schiano possibly replacing Paterno when the Hall of Famer was done coaching. But when Penn State was looking for a replacement after firing Paterno amid a child sex-abuse scandal involving former longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the school hired Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien.

Schiano has been courted by several other colleges during his time at Rutgers, most notably Miami in 2006 and Michigan in 2007.

"I've had several opportunities over the years and none of them felt right," Schiano told The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., as he left Rutgers' football facility Thursday night. "This time, this one felt right."

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who played for Schiano at Rutgers, was among former Scarlet Knights players to talk about the news on Twitter.

"Congrats to coach @GregSchiano the Bucs are getting a great man and a great coach. #salute," he wrote. Rice is scheduled to be a free agent but has said he expects to be back with the Ravens.

Eric LeGrand, who suffered a spinal injury in 2010 but has continued to be a constant around the Rutgers program, tweeted his surprise at the news.

"Really? Not going to lie I am a little bit shocked right now," he wrote.

New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty, who also played for Schiano at Rutgers, said Thursday he thinks his former coach will do a great job in the NFL.

"He's a great coach, so I'm not surprised that he was offered the opportunity," McCourty said. "I think he'll do a great job."

Schiano is an under-the-radar coach, but Tampa Bay has been eyeing him throughout this process. Buccaneers college scout Bill Rees made contact with Schiano at the outset of Tampa Bay's coaching search, and the two men stayed in contact.

Kirk Plum also conducted a massive amount of research, reaching out to various NFL people. One of the people they called was Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who spoke highly of Schiano.

Belichick on Thursday praised Schiano.

"I think he is a tremendous coach that's done a great job with that program. And his players have been very NFL-ready. Guys that come out of that program, when they get to the NFL, most of them make it. It may not be first-round picks or whatever but if they have enough talent to really compete in the NFL most of them end up staying in one way or another and I think that's a credit to the preparation and the program that he's built there," Belichick said, according to the Buccaneers in their statement.

Now, they have hired Schiano, who has a 49-28 record at Rutgers since 2006. Schiano is said to have impressed the Bucs in the two interviews he had -- one in Dallas a couple of weeks ago, another as recently as Wednesday morning.

Schiano's contract with Rutgers was scheduled to run through 2016 and paid him around $2.35 million per year.

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ESPN has been handing out free agency grades, and they've given the Tampa Bay Buccaneers an A- in free agency. That's a good grade, but we'll have to see whether it sticks in the long term. While the Bucs have certainly fixed a number of holes, they are from a complete team - with major problems at linebacker and running back still remaining. In addition, we've seen offseason and free agency winners fizzle out too often in the past to feel very secure about the Bucs' additions.

"The Bucs were huge early spenders in free agency. Jackson and Nicks are two of the better players at their respective positions and fill massive need positions for Tampa Bay. Wright was a questionable signing for the dollars it cost, but cornerback certainly was a major weakness on this roster. I would have liked to see Tampa Bay add a veteran or two with outstanding leadership skills to help lead this very young and sometimes troubled roster. However, the Bucs' key losses were minimal, and Tampa Bay is set up quite well to take the best player available with the No. 5 overall pick in the draft."

The Bucs are adding to their plethera of talent, as they have acquired Conerback Richard Sherman from the Seattle Seahawks. Sherman, a 5th Round Pick out of Stanford last year, had a productive rookie year last year, as he had 62 tackles, 4 interceptions, 17 deflections, and one 1 forced fumble. Sherman, an ex-WR at Stanford, has great size for a CB at 6'3" and weighing 195 lbs. He has good speed also. He is one of the best man cover corners in the league (98) and is a great zone defender too (89). He is a smart player, as evident by his 4.25 High School GPA, and for the fact he graduated in 3 years at Stanford. He is such a good player that many people called him Optimus Prime, who was the opposer to Megatron in the movie Transformers, because of his ability to shut down Wide Receivers such as Calvin Johnson (Megatron). It came at a price though, as the Bucs gave up their 1st round picks in the 2013 and 2014 drafts. They had 1 in the 2013 (from Jacksonville) and 2 in 2014 (1 from Jacksonville & 1 from themselves). The Bucs took this chance as there do not seem to be many good corners, if any, in this years' class, and it moved Ronde to nickelback, where at his age and lack of speed, he will excel.